Devastating injury led physician into new career

AGE:
56
FAMILY:
Husband Bill Pantaleo;
daughter Lilia (11); four
stepchildren; 1 grandchild
SYNAGOGUE:
Temple Emanuel
HOBBIES:
Crafting, music, and travel
LISTENS TO:
The Beatles, Led Zeppelin;
‘Old-time Funk and Soul’
FAVORITE TV:
FOX News

For years, Dr. Judy Weinstein had honed her craft as a diagnostic radiologist. She graduated from medical school in Lille, France, and was practicing at Graduate Hospital in Philadelphia. Then, work she did to heal others began to take its toll on her own body. The heavy lead apron she wore to protect herself from radiation damaged the nerves in her neck.

As time went on, the damage spread to the point where the pain was so intense Weinstein could not sit up, let alone practice medicine. In 1996, her chronic pain forced her to go on disability.

Weinstein’s condition not only took away her medical career, but also many of her hobbies were now out of the question. “It was very traumatic to go from a very active life of dancing, gardening, and skiing,” she said. Weinstein couldn’t even use the pottery studio in the basement of her Mt. Laurel home.

“I was going stir-crazy,” said Weinstein. She decided that she would have to try something new.

Always interested in crafting, Weinstein and her husband Bill, a lithographer, decided to start a women-oriented accessories and fine crafts catalogue. They called it, “The Amberfield Collection.” “Having the catalogue taught me about marketing, business, and dealing with crafters and the craft industry,” said Weinstein.

After several issues of “The Amberfield Collection,” Weinstein decided that it was time to pursue a lifelong dream—becoming a mother. “In August, 2000, we brought Lilia home from Russia.” Not only was there the joy of motherhood, but also slowly Weinstein regained the use of her hands.

“I was starved for crafting,” Weinstein said. She started out buying beads, taking classes, meeting other beaders, and working with novelty yarns. “People started coming to my house. I started a club, The Bead and Fiber Guild of South Jersey.”

“One day, I said to my husband, ‘What do you think about me opening up a bead store,’” said Weinstein. Jubili Beads & Yarns in Collingswood was born. The name “Jubili” is an acronym of “Judy, Bill, and Lilia.”

For Weinstein, Jubili Beads has become more than a store. Crafting has helped her heal, and she is using her store to help others. She has started “Jubilation Creations,” an arts & crafts program for people with special needs. Four days a week, people from several local schools for the disabled as well as from the Samost Jewish Family & Children’s Service (JFCS) come to the store for work-related activities and classes.

Jubilation Creations is a labor of love for Weinstein. “I know what it is like to be disabled. This helped me find a way to keep on living,” she said of crafting and the creative process. “I feel I’ve been able to bridge my love of helping people with the crafty part of who I am.”